#except when it doesn't

They both had the same idea to dip from a boring meeting at the creme republic without telling the other

Proving that science doesn’t have to ruin anime, but can (in fact) enchance it!

(slight spoilers for Sanji’s backstory ahead)

Sanji’s Blood Type

Now, Sanji’s blood type is stated to be S Rh- and seems to be inspired by the real life O blood type (with the other One Piece blood types X and F being A and B). However, the anime goes on to state that Sanji’s blood type is especially rare. In fact, it is a blood type believed to be from a noble blood line.

https://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/one-piece-chapter-802-spoilers-will-sanji-reveal-his-true-identity-as-a-noble-prince-34190

While most view this as just a way to make Sanji’s loss of blood more dramatic, this piece of information is actually in line with a very interesting piece of hematology.

Blood Types

First a quick crash course in blood types.

Red Blood Cells (RBC) have specific molecules (antigens) on the cell surface. Those antigens are what give people the blood types. One type is A, one type is B, having both is AB, having none is O. There is another antigen called the Rhesus (Rh) factor that determines whether you are “positive” or “negative”, with “positive” meaning you have the Rh factor.

This is what the basic antigen looks like:

Adding GlcNAc to the terminal sugar (Gal) would change the antigen to A:

And adding another Gal to the terminal sugar (Gal) would make it B:

The Bombay Phenotype

Now, there exists a special subtype of blood in which there is nothing, not even Fucose (Fuc) added onto the terminal sugar. People with Bombay Phenotype cannot receive A, B, or even O type blood (not even the “universal donor” type O negative). The only blood a person with Bombay Phenotype can receive is from another Bombay Phenotype, which is about 4 people per million.

The Connection

What makes me connect this blood type to Sanji, besides it’s rarity, is this blood’s connection to consanguineous unions (i.e. incest).

What groups are known for incestuous relations?

Royalty.

To keep the bloodline “pure”, royal families are historically known to marry within their family, which increases the risk of various genetic diseases like Bombay Phenotype. And not wanting to marry outside their “pure” bloodline is exactly something the One Piece World Nobles/Celestial Dragons would think.

Which is why I think it’s really neat that Oda had the one character on the crew with familial ties to nobility have this ultra rare blood type variant!

Below is my other “science in anime” post about Zoro’s amber tinted sunglasses

Fear leads to anger.

That’s what they had told her for as long as she could remember. Let go of your fear, they had said. It will poison you. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.

She was afraid. She was so very afraid.

She almost wished she could find anger. But all she could feel was fear and despair, and even that was fading, being swallowed up by a feeling she would call emptiness, if emptiness was something a person could feel.

They had warned her of anger. They never told her about the emptiness. Never warned her against it. Was emptiness a path to the darkside the way anger was?

She darted down another alleyway, pulling Initiate Keto with her.

There was blood on her hands and she knew that when she let go of Keto’s hand there would be blood on his too.

She could feel eyes on them. She wondered if this person would be like the tall man that had called the Coruscanti guard on them, that had brought the clone troopers to their position or if this quiet watcher would be like the large Besalisk that had led them out the back and distracted their pursuers while they escaped.

She and Keto didn’t wait to find out. They just ran down another alley.

They’d been running for what felt like forever.

She’d been running since her Master of only three weeks had screamed for her to evacuate the temple. Padawan Isliato had grabbed her hand and pulled her.

There had been ten of them trying to escape, the Masters standing between them and the clones, trying to give them time to evacuate, time to escape the deathtrap that the temple had become.

She had almost collapsed when the newly made Force bond she shared with her was severed, only Padawan Isliato’s hand in hers had kept her moving.

They had been hemmed in. There had been no way they were going to be able to escape.

Padawan Isliato and Padawan Teep had sent the rest of them on ahead, lightsabers held in shaking hands as he’d appeared. The Hero with No Fear. 

She had seen him run his saber through Initiate Bianka’s chest. Initiate Bianka had been cruel, a bit of a bully. She hadn’t deserved to die that way.

He had killed Initiate Analei next. She was the kindest initiate in the Dragon Clan. She hadn’t deserved to die that way either.

The rest of the group had seen the same. Had seen him go through the Masters, Knights, Padawans, and Initiates as though they were the droids that they’d all been so in awe of him fighting only days before. This man, this Hero.

He didn’t feel like a Hero. Not anymore.

She had known immediately that neither Padawan was going to survive the encounter. She had wanted to stop and help them. She was a Padawan, and it was her responsibility to make sure that the Initiates had a chance to escape.

But Padawan Isliato had told her to keep running.

She hadn’t seen either of them fall.

There was too much death for her to be able to pick out theirs. But still, she knew. They were gone, gone with her Master and their Masters. Gone with almost everyone else.

By the time she’d made it to an escape route there was only her and three others. Initiate Kipli had been shot in the head, Padawan Rorroworran had stopped to hold off a squad of troopers. Padawan Lietta had felt her Master die and had refused to move on, tears streaming down her cheeks as she turned towards the troopers following them.

She had pulled the rest of the group away, leaving Lietta to face death in the way of her choosing.

Initiate Cora had taken a shot meant for Initiate Zema. 

The four of them that were still alive, that had managed to escape had huddled together in an empty alleyway until the man had found them, a smile fake, and his eyes empty of any sort of compassion.

He had called the troopers.

That was when they’d lost Initiate Zema and Padawan Kiiko.

Now it was her and Initiate Keto.

Running, running, running.

Running until they took a wrong turn and found themselves in a dead end.

She was so very afraid.

Fear leads to anger.

But she wasn’t angry.

She was just empty.

Her mind empty where her bond with her Master had been. Her heart empty where the love from her Family had been.

Her hand tightened on Keto’s hand. Both still covered in the blood of their friends. Their family.

She could hear the troopers. 

She and Keto turned.

Keto’s hand trembled within her own.

She thought about pulling her saber. To make a last stand.

But she would rather die with Keto’s hand in hers. She would rather die just that little less empty.

She was so afraid.

Fear leads to anger.

She was too empty to feel angry.

There were men with blasters.

There was a hand in hers.

There was death.

There was the Force.

@honhonoura HOW COULD YOU ;_;

(<3)

Editing sucks. There’s a reason real-world people get paid to edit.